| That sounds like an "asking" price to me. It's less than half the
original price (not positive here), but it's not a really good deal
because technology and prices have come a long ways.
The only big (but it's really big) architectural lose of the Poly-800
is the single VCF. That's right, only one filter. Actually, there
are lots of situations where you can live with that--most people tended
to use Poly-800's for chord pads and so on.
But compare a Roland D-10 or a Kawai K-1 for only about $600. Velocity
sensing keys are a whole new world.
I must have a dozen CD's on which Poly-800's were used. It was pretty
popular, but I never personally thought of it as a classic.
Eirikur the historian...
|
| Poly-800s went for $795 list new. I had one for a few years. It
was superseded by the Mk II, which fixed a few things but wasn't
fundamentally different.
It has a 4 octave standard size keyboard, but no velocity or
aftertouch. The MIDI implementation is primitive. A CZ-101 does
a lot more for less than the $300 asking price. The onboard sequencer
is worthless (256 events, no editing capability).
The single VCF is a disaster. As long as you use close voiced chords,
it will not be a "problem". Forget any left hand/right hand stuff
though, the filter opens up based on the highest note played and
the bass part will have an effectlively wide open filter.
It was capable of some nice sounds, but I agree with Eirikur;
this is not a "classic" synth. It was innovative in two respects:
its price (the first "nontoy" synth under $1000), and its 5 stage
envelopes (attack, decay1, decay2, sustain, release).
I don't miss mine.
len.
|
| See note 12.47 for a Roland Juno-106 for $350. This is a 5 octave
standard size keyboard, with 6 VCFs and twice the patch storage of
the POLY-800. No sequencer, no velocity, no aftertouch. Slightly
more usable MIDI implementation.
I still have my J-106, even after a Super Jupiter, JX-10 and D-550.
This *is* a classic synth.
len.
|